Several years ago (2011) Chevrolet produced a Superbowl commercial which featured a Silverado pick-up truck, acting like a modern-day Lassie. It repeatedly rescued a young boy named Tommy from various disasters. Take a look… (show Chevy Silverado Superbowl Commercial 2011; www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qpAW8vGazrc)
The ad begins as the truck rushes into the driveway and honks. Tommy's father listens to the truck "speak," and then the anxious father asks the truck, "What? Tommy slipped into a well?" Then the father and his faithful truck proceed to drive off and rescue the boy from danger.
This scenario repeats itself several times, and each time the father blurts out his frustration: "Tommy's stuck in a cave?" "Where did you get a [hot air] balloon?" "How did you get trapped in the belly of a whale?" And "I didn't even know this town had a volcano!"
Each time Tommy gets in trouble, the loyal truck shows up and delivers Tommy from his self-made disasters. Some people have a real knack for getting into trouble; and in the last several months, it seems that our whole country has gone through a lot of trouble from a pandemic to a recession to riots in the streets.
So what do you do in times like these? What do you do to find deliverance? What do you do to find rescue from disasters, even if they’re self-made? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Judges 10, Judges 10, where Israel has gotten into trouble again.
Judges 10:6-9 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed. (ESV)
Here we go again. For the sixth time, Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Canaanite gods. As a result, the nation is severely distressed. They have a real knack for getting into trouble, don’t they?
Judges 10:10-14 And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” And the LORD said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” (ESV)
Israel was remorseful, but not repentant. They were sad about the consequences of their sin, but not enough to turn away from their sin. So God says, “Enough! I’m not going to save you anymore. Let your worthless idols save you now.”
Judges 10:15-16 And the people of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel. (ESV)
He grew tired of their misery and could no longer bear it. Israel finally repents, so God relents. He decides to save His people, because His people genuinely turn back to Him. And that’s what you and I must do in our times. Stop trusting in the “idols” you turned to for comfort, and...
RELY ON GOD’S GRACE TO SAVE YOU DESPITE YOUR SIN.
Repent and cry out to God for deliverance. Turn from your worthless gods and trust the true and living God.
Christopher Wright says, “The worst thing about idols... is that they are utterly useless when you need them most.” (Christopher J. H. Wright, “Editorial: ‘All Our Gods Have Failed,’” Themelios 18, no. 3, 1993, www.PreachingToday.com)
So stop living for comfort; stop living for money; and stop living for power. These are the idols that we worship today, which the Coronavirus, the recession, and the riots have shown to be worthless. So stop living for these things, and start looking to the Lord, who by His grace has grown impatient over your misery and wants to save you from it.
23-year-old Brenton Winn was angry at God after he relapsed from an addiction to methamphetamines. Winn knew nothing about Central Baptist Church of Conway, Arkansas, when he broke in that evening. High on drugs, Winn went on a rampage and destroyed $100,000 of church property.
Six months later Winn was baptized at Central Baptist. He said, “As I’m starting to understand how God works, I’ve realized I didn’t pick the church that night. God picked me. If it had been any other church, I think I’d be sitting in prison right now.”
Winn’s journey from a jail cell in February last year (2019) to a baptismal pool last September began when Central Baptist senior pastor, Don Chandler, talked to the prosecutor. Chandler knew the godly response to Winn would be to offer forgiveness rather than judgment.
Chandler said, “You can’t preach grace for 50 years without practicing it, especially in front of your whole church… This was a young man who had made some mistakes. He was on drugs and alcohol when he did what he did. But he was redeemable.”
Chandler told the prosecutor that the church would like to see Winn get help with Renewal Ranch, a faith-based residential recovery ministry. The judge, who at the time had been a board member of Renewal Ranch, gave Winn the option. He could either go to jail, potentially for 20 years, or he could voluntarily choose to go to Renewal Ranch. Winn chose Renewal Ranch.
Winn accepted Christ as his Savior after one of the Bible studies at Renewal Ranch. Winn and other ranch residents attend church at Central Baptist on Wednesday evenings. Winn chose to be baptized at the church on one of those Wednesday nights.
Winn said. “I gave my heart to Christ. I used to think it was a coincidence [that I chose to break into the church], but now I call it confirmation that God is real, and he answers prayers. I needed a relationship with Jesus Christ.” (Tobin Perry, “He Got High and Broke Into a Church. Months Later, He Was Baptized There,” Christianity Today online, 10-11-19; www.PreachingToday.com)
What a beautiful story of God’s grace! And that can be your story too no matter how many times you have failed. Jesus paid the price for your sins on the cross, so you don’t have to. Just turn to Him from your worthless idols and trust Him to save you, not because you deserve it. You don’t, no. Trust Christ save you only because He loves you unconditionally. By His grace, He has grown impatient over your misery. So rely on God’s grace to save you despite your sin. Then...
RELY ON GOD’S GRACE TO USE YOU DESPITE YOUR STATUS.
Depend on God’s unconditional love to employ you regardless of your reputation. Trust in God’s mercy to utilize YOU to make a difference in this world no matter your past. That’s what He did for Jephthah.
Judges 10:17-18 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” (ESV)
With the assurance of God’s grace, Israel looks for a savior, but he’s not the kind of savior you would expect.
Judges 11:1-3 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. And Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. And when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him. (ESV)
Jephthah was the illegitimate son of a prostitute, rejected by his family, and the toughest, meanest guy around. He attracted around himself a gang of thugs that terrorized the neighborhood. So when the Ammonites advance against Israel, the leaders of Israel seek out the toughest man they know to push the Ammonites out.
Judges 11:4-11 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah. (ESV)
Jephthah wants to be Israel’s true leader, not just their patsy to get them out of a tough situation. So Israel’s leaders make him their primary leader, and Jephthah commits his way to the Lord.
Now, I would expect a tough guy like Jephthah to attack the Ammonites right away, but he doesn’t. Instead, he tries diplomacy first, which ultimately fails (vs.12-28), so with God’s Spirit upon Him, he goes after the Ammonites.
Judges 11:29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. (ESV)
God used Jephthah despite his reputation, and God can do the same for you. God can use you to make a difference in our broken world no matter your past. Just commit your way to the Lord like Jephthah did and depend on His Holy Spirit.
When I think about Jephthah, I think about George Floyd, who was recently murdered in Minneapolis. George was a towering 6-foot by 6-inch black man, who grew up in Houston’s Third Ward, on the southeast side of the city. Just a few years ago, sociologists classified it as the 15th most dangerous area in the United States. George was a tough young man in that ward, who terrorized the neighborhood and had a criminal history.
Then God got a hold of him and started using him to reach that same neighborhood with the Gospel of Christ. He became a mentor to a generation of young men, wanting to break the cycle of violence and use his influence to bring outside ministries in to do discipleship and outreach.
People in the Third Ward called him “Big Floyd” and regarded him as a community leader and elder statesman. They called him an “OG”, which stands for “original gangster.” If new gangsters think they are tough, then “OG’s” are many times tougher. They’re “old school” with a depth of experience and knowledge that young people respect.
George used that reputation to connect Houston’s Resurrection Church with people in his tough neighborhood, particularly in the Cuney Homes housing project, locally known as “the Bricks.”
Patrick Ngwolo, Resurrection Church’s pastor says “George Floyd was a person of peace sent from the Lord that helped the gospel go forward in a place that I never lived in.” He says, “The platform for us to reach that neighborhood and the hundreds of people we reached through that time and up to now was built on the backs of people like Floyd.”
The church expanded its involvement in the area, holding Bible studies and helping out with groceries and rides to doctor’s appointments. Floyd didn’t just provide access and protection; he lent a helping hand as the church put on services, three-on-three basketball tournaments, barbecues, and community baptisms.
The rapper Ronnie Lillard says, “He helped push the baptism tub over, understanding that people were going to make a decision of faith and get baptized right there in the middle of the projects. The things that he would say to young men always referenced that God trumps street culture. I think he wanted to see young men put guns down and have Jesus instead of the streets.”
Nijalon Dunn, a recently baptized believer in the Cuney housing project, said of George Floyd, “His faith was a heart for the Third Ward that was radically changed by the gospel, and his mission was empowering other believers to be able to come in and push that gospel forth. There are things that Floyd did for us that we’ll never know until the other side of eternity. There were times where we’d have Church at the Bricks until 3 p.m., and by 4:30, they’re firing shots right at the basketball courts.”
George had moved to Minnesota a couple of years ago (2018) to be part of a discipleship program, which included job placement. He had plans to return to Houston this summer to continue his ministry there, but he never made it back. Even so, Lillard said he’ll be “immortalized in the Third Ward community forever. His mural will be on the walls. Every youth and young man growing up will know George Floyd. The people who knew him personally will remember him as a positive light. Guys from the streets look to him like, ‘Man, if he can change his life, I can change mine.’” (Kate Shellnutt, “George Floyd Left a Gospel Legacy in Houston: As a person of peace, “Big Floyd” opened up ministry opportunities in the Third Ward housing projects,” Christianity Today, May 28, 2020)
God used “Big Floyd,” with a violent, criminal history to change his neighborhood for Christ. And I believe God will use his death to change our entire country for the better. Unlike ever before, people from all races and political persuasions have condemned his murder and are calling for changes to make our justice system more just. May he not have died in vain.
George Floyd’s pastor put it this way: “Jesus’ blood says he can redeem us through these dark and perilous times. I have hope because... I see my brother [Floyd] as a Christ figure... pointing us to a greater reality. God does hear us. He hears [Floyd’s] cry even from the ground now. Vengeance will either happen on the cross or [it] will happen on Judgment Day.” (Ibid.)
Because of the cross, God used “Big Floyd” to change his world. In the same way, God can use you to change your world no matter what your past is. Just rely on God’s grace to save you despite your sin. Then rely on God’s grace to use you despite your status. Third...
RELY ON GOD’S GRACE TO GIVE YOU VICTORY DESPITE YOUR STUPIDITY.
Depend on God’s mercy to grant you success regardless of the dumb things you do. Trust in God’s unconditional love to help you overcome no matter your reckless words and actions.
That’s what God did for Jephthah. God gives Jephthah victory over the Ammonites despite a rash and reckless vow.
Judges 11:30-31 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” (ESV)
Jephthah wants to ensure victory, so he offers God a human sacrifice. “Whatever comes out from the doors of [his] house” is not going to be an animal. Animals were kept outside, no. Jephthah expected a human being to come out of his house, perhaps one of his servants. You see, Jephthah was raised in the Canaanite culture where human sacrifices were common, so he thinks he can win God’s favor by offering a human sacrifice.
Judges 11:32-33 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. (ESV)
God gave Jephthah the victory not because of his rash vow, but in spite of it. What Jephthah didn’t know was that God abhors human sacrifices. He calls them “abominable things” in Deuteronomy 12:31. So God was not moved by Jephthah’s offer of a human sacrifice, no! God was moved by his own mercy and grace to deliver his people from their misery.
Judges 11:34-40 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. (ESV)
Jephthah’s only child died without children, which led Israelite women to an annual 4-day lament. Jephthah did a stupid and ignorant thing, but God gave him the victory anyway.
Trust God to do it for you, as well, despite your stupidity. You see, God doesn’t use us BECAUSE OF our ingenuity, no! He often uses us IN SPITE OF our ignorance. In Israel, God graciously used a flawed leader (Jephthah) to deliver a flawed people. Perhaps, in our own country, God is graciously using a flawed leader (Donald Trump) to deliver a flawed people today. I don’t know, but that is often the way He works. So trust in His grace these days. Rely on God’s grace to give you the victory despite the stupid things you do sometimes.
Bill White, from Paramount, California, talks about one of those evenings when everything went wrong. The kids were cranky while he was making dinner, so he gave them some hot chocolate to tide them over. Timothy, who was five at the time, decided to throw his marshmallows at his little sister, knocking her hot chocolate all over her. As she began screaming, the phone rang (and Bill says he foolishly answered it) and the doorbell rang (and he foolishly answered it too—with the phone on his ear and a screaming kid in the background). He then returned to the kitchen and hollered at Timothy, and promptly had two crying kids.
As dinner began to burn, he deposited his daughter in the bath and loudly announced that he was so angry he might do anything. So he declared he was putting himself in timeout. He closed the door, none too gently, and tried to get dinner to be the only thing simmering in the kitchen.
Everything changed about ten minutes later when he caught sight of a yellow piece of construction paper sliding under the door. In the unsteady hand of a kindergartener was scrawled a message of grace that pierced his heart and turned him around:
“From Timothy. To Dad. I still love you even when you're angry.” (Bill White, Paramount, California; www.Preaching Today.com)
That’s God’s message to you this morning: I still love you even when you’re angry. I still love you even when you’re ignorant. I still love you even when you do stupid stuff.
So in these days of turmoil, rely on God’s grace. Rely on God’s grace to save you despite your sin. Rely on God’s grace to use you despite your status, and rely on God’s grace to give you victory despite your stupidity.
Bryan Chapell, senior pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois, tells a story about learning to use a crosscut saw with his father. As Bryan and his father were sawing through a log that had a rotten core, a piece of wood sheared off that looked just like a horse's head. So Bryan took it home and then later on gave it to his dad as a present. Bryan says:
I attached a length of two-by-four board to that log head, attached a rope tail, and stuck on some sticks to act as legs. Then I halfway hammered in a dozen or so nails down the two-by-four body of that “horse,” wrapped the whole thing in butcher block paper, put a bow on it, and presented it to my father. When he took off the wrapping, he smiled and said, “Thank you, it's wonderful… what is it?”
“It's a tie rack, Dad,” Bryan said. “See, you can put your ties on those nails going clown the side of the horse's body.” Bryan’s father smiled again and thanked him. Then he leaned the horse against his closet wall (because the stick legs could not keep it standing upright), and for years he used it as a tie rack.
Bryan says, “When I first gave my father that rotten-log-horse-head tie rack, I really thought it was ‘good.’” In his childish mind his creation was a work of art ready for the Metropolitan Museum. But as he matured, Bryan says he realized that his work was not nearly as good as he had once thought. In fact, he understood ultimately that his father had received and used his gift not because of its goodness but out of his goodness. In a similar way our heavenly Father receives our gifts not so much because they deserve his love, but because he is love. (Bryan Chapell, Fallen: A Theology of Sin, Crossway, 2013, pp. 274-275; www.PreachingToday.com)
God is love. Rest in that love today.
